Page 39 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Aren would feed you to the Renown! Alec! What are you doing?!” Fae sobbed. Alec turned his head to the side, evaluating me, sly smile on his face as he pressed the blade somehow tighter against her skin.
“She’s due for a new cycle. She’ll come back,” he growled, and turned his dagger. Small crimson droplets slid onto the steel, Alvara let out a tiny sob, and something in my chest exploded. Suddenly, there was fire everywhere.
SIXTEEN
CONFESSION
ALVARA
God dammit Alec!I growled at him internally, a small involuntary noise escaping my lips as his blade bit through the tender flesh on my neck.Asshole!
The energy shifted so dramatically that the air flew around me, supernatural wind blowing my hair out of my face. I pulled Alec’s hand away from me and he dropped me to the floor. When I turned my face, August exploded. I froze as flames erupted down his arms, a ball of fire surrounding his entire body, manic tendrils flowing from his fingers, licking at the surrounding floor, eyes glowing a vibrant green. His lips pulled back in a visceral snarl, and a growl ripped from his chest.
“August!” I shouted, lunging forward. I threw up a shield of energy and rushed for him. Alec and Fae summoned water as fast as they could draw it forth from the surrounding mountains. His luminescent eyes found mine, and the flames vanished as he wrapped his arms around me, scooping me off the ground and tucking me protectively behind him before the flames licked down his arm again. The briefest strobe of memory had slipped through my mind, not clear like a vision, but hazy like a long-forgotten dream. There was no time.
Heart already a manic hummingbird, I thought my stomach had jumped into my throat. Feet firmly planted, I calmed my voice as best as I could. “August, I’m okay!”
Alec stood, eyes wide and amused, water spiraling between his hands over his head in an eternally mesmerizing dance. “Well…” He smirked. “Thatwas unexpected.”
“I'll show you unexpected, motherfucker,” August growled.
Fae threw herself between them, hands protectively outstretched in front of Alec. “That wasnotfunny.” She shot an angry glance back at her mate. “But itworked, August!”
“August! I’m okay!! Alec has asicksense of humor,” I spat. “But I’m okay! He would never actually hurt me,” I insisted, ignoring the sting across my neck. I threw my hands out to rest against his back, and his muscles all tensed as another quick strobe flashed in my mind. I yanked my hands off him. Visions dulled through the clothing or not, I didn’t intend to read him.
He shot a glance over his shoulder, eyes frantically surveying my face, before turning back to Alec. There was pain there, a swirl of undeniable grief.
“What. The. Fuck?” He growled at him, but he moved his arm like he was snapping a whip, extinguishing the flames from his flesh in an instant.
A nervous giggle tore from Fae. She buried her face in her hands and shook her head. Alec had always been gutsy, but something about August had made it more so. She’d had the same split-second heads up I had when the idea crossed his mind. But Alec wasn’t exactly indecisive. He always listened to his intuition. And without hesitation, he had listened to the instinct that said August would only react if he felt a genuine threat. A dozen memories raced through his mind now, all extraordinary heroics for the soldiers in their garrison and the women August loved.
Fae collapsed back onto the couch, a relieved sigh escaping her lips.
“Fae,” Alec scolded, glaring at her over pursed lips. “You know I would never.”
“Had me fooled,” August snapped before she could respond, his voice still guttural.
“It worked, didn’t it?” Alec insisted. With a smirk, he added, “Just like I knew it would. You’re a pyro. Just like Ally. I’ve sensed it for days.”
The impulse was as quick as Alec’s had been, so I didn’t have time to react to August’s either. His fist collided square with Alec’s face with a sickening smack. “Pull a stunt like that again, and I’ll turn you into a fucking lightning rod.”
Alec staggered backwards, rubbing his jaw, eyes watering, before he let the smirk climb back up his cheeks, completely unapologetic. “You’re a guardian, August. Your abilities will only awaken if something you love is threatened.”
“Go to hell.” August threw his hand towards the fireplace, and a massive fire erupted in the hearth, consuming the stack of wood there, and licking at the stone edges. He was to the door in an instant and threw it open with a bang as it smacked into the log wall, before he vanished into the night. I winced, and then stared at the roaring fire with butterflies flipping in my stomach. He was incredible. He radiated power in all he did, and his fierce need to protect his own was staggering.
“You know,” I said, glaring at Alec, “I didn’t bother toreadthe cabin, and I never had a warning of you attacking me while on vacation.”
“Don’t let your guard down, sis.” He winked and swallowed what I assumed was a mouthful of blood by the smell in the air. “You’re getting rusty, Alvara. Too comfortable. Now, are you going after him, or am I?”
“I’ll get him.” I walked to the door, and then shot a smile back at Alec. “You’re an asshole, you know that? You’ve spent too much time with Ansel.”
He shrugged. “At least I’m an effective asshole.”
Well. I couldn’t argue with that. Alec was still a solider through and through, and as long as the outcome justified the means, and nobody was seriously hurt in the process, his lines could be a little fuzzy. He wasn’t actually prone to violence—ironically the most peaceful among us. But he knew August in the most intimate way out of the group of us, and I was trying to trust him.
August’s chest was still heaving in ragged rises and falls when I met him at the edge of the incline. His arms were tightly crossed, and I couldn’t help but notice the stance emphasized the carve of his biceps. He had already been a beautiful man, and I couldn’t help but admire him now. The tendons across his forearms were livid, and the vein in his temple bulged.
“August, I’m so sorry, that was-”
